ARS: What was surprising and wonderful was that the process in publishing “Where It Began” was so completely collaborative and friendly. My editor and I talked on the phone and I made notes on her concerns and suggestions and this enabled me to do a serious rewrite that made the book more intensely what it was trying to be. I didn’t feel oppressed; I felt happy. (I am a compulsive, OCD-ish, stays up all night in a rewriting frenzy kind of rewriter – doing a good revision in general makes me happy.) And then we exchanged the manuscript several more times and bounced ideas off each other. It has been a remarkably angst-free process, and I love the final result.

TCR: What was your reaction when you first saw your cover?

ARS: I thought, and still think, that the cover is gorgeous. It isn’t what I was expecting – in my mind’s eye there was a car wrapped around a eucalyptus tree, billowing smoke, and the night sky. Or there were Gabby and Billy, lying on the hood of his car, parked in a turnout on Mulholland Drive and looking down at Los Angeles. Or lying on his bed throwing darts at…never mind, no spoilers from me!

And then I saw the cover, this cover, and it was perfect. Now, when I think about Gabby (which happens all the time; she keeps popping up and wanting to talk with Emma, the narrator of the next book) she has taken on the face of the girl on the cover. That’s her.

"Gabby Gardiner wakes up in a hospital bed looking like a cautionary ad for drunk driving—and without a single memory of the accident that landed her there. But what she can recall, in frank and sardonic detail, is the year leading up to the crash.

As Gabby describes her transformation from Invisible Girl to Trendy Girl Who Dates Billy Nash (aka Most Desirable Boy Ever), she is left wondering: Why is Billy suddenly distancing himself from her? What do her classmates know that Gabby does not? Who exactly was in the car that night? And why has Gabby been left to take the fall?

As she peels back the layers of her life, Gabby begins to realize that her climb up the status ladder has been as intoxicating as it has been morally complex...and that nothing about her life is what she has imagined it to be."

This one will be out March 6th, 2012! What do you all think about it--does it sound like something you'll pick up?

Well, if so, then I have one ARC to give away, courtesy of the author and S&S! All you have to do to enter to win is comment below and let me know what you think. Sorry, but this contest is open to U.S. residents only, please!

I really do look forward to reading this. It somewhat sounds similar to THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX, which I'm starting to read now. But THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX is sci-fi while WHERE IT BEGAN is contemporary, which I like.

Welcome to The Compulsive Reader!

Formerly a YA book blog, TheCompulsiveReader.com is now the personal bookish blog of YA writer Tirzah Price! For more frequent dispatches about books, writing, and general nonsense, check out Book Riot, head over to Twitter or follow TirzahPrice on Litsy!